DUBAI, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Egypt's blue-chip stock index soared in the opening minutes on Thursday after the central bank said it was floating the Egyptian pound, in an effort to end a hard-currency shortage that has plagued the economy for several years.

The index jumped 8.3 percent with many stocks rising their 10 percent daily limits. The broader EGX 100 index gained only 3.6 percent, however.

The central bank said it had floated the pound and raised interest rates by 300 basis points to rebalance currency markets.

(Reporting by Celine Aswad and Andrew Torchia, editing by Larry King) ((andrew.torchia@thomsonreuters.com; +9715 6681 7277; Reuters Messaging: andrew.torchia.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))